diff --git a/go.mod b/go.mod
index 5ca0e04c1..d4650190a 100644
--- a/go.mod
+++ b/go.mod
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ require (
 	github.com/jxskiss/base62 v1.1.0
 	github.com/livekit/mageutil v0.0.0-20250511045019-0f1ff63f7731
 	github.com/livekit/mediatransportutil v0.0.0-20261014192331-dd8e31a0adc0
-	github.com/livekit/protocol v1.52.2-0.20261019104604-8a409dee75df
+	github.com/livekit/protocol v1.53.1-0.20261021070436-f09f87aab29b
 	github.com/livekit/psrpc v0.8.2
 	github.com/mackerelio/go-osstat v0.2.8
 	github.com/magefile/mage v1.17.2
diff --git a/go.sum b/go.sum
index 6c96da5fe..c9792be8b 100644
--- a/go.sum
+++ b/go.sum
@@ -166,8 +166,8 @@ github.com/livekit/mageutil v0.0.0-20250511045019-0f1ff63f7731 h1:9x+U2HGLrSw5AT
 github.com/livekit/mageutil v0.0.0-20250511045019-0f1ff63f7731/go.mod h1:Rs3MhFwutWhGwmY1VQsygw28z5bWcnEYmS1OG9OxjOQ=
 github.com/livekit/mediatransportutil v0.0.0-20261014192331-dd8e31a0adc0 h1:BSLyHr3Lsl71bHGHsfiYNmbohugR2yoaf9HjAZeFJnc=
 github.com/livekit/mediatransportutil v0.0.0-20261014192331-dd8e31a0adc0/go.mod h1:o8CFmAdrVwzJNOCsQCLUzXRjokkufNshnQHOe4fRaqU=
-github.com/livekit/protocol v1.52.2-0.20261019104604-8a409dee75df h1:HTs2Bh+gerbHsecuE7p7W77G7JWjW5gaGxGyJxroPRU=
-github.com/livekit/protocol v1.52.2-0.20261019104604-8a409dee75df/go.mod h1:kUTAI2TrTngGOiWP6MTAOkJpru6YYGd0MP9wzlDATy4=
+github.com/livekit/protocol v1.53.1-0.20261021070436-f09f87aab29b h1:SrvXlVsWYxgdk6VRasJ9HCHFE+psFf17jQwriLBArgY=
+github.com/livekit/protocol v1.53.1-0.20261021070436-f09f87aab29b/go.mod h1:kUTAI2TrTngGOiWP6MTAOkJpru6YYGd0MP9wzlDATy4=
 github.com/livekit/psrpc v0.8.2 h1:7tbkhBJoYlK5Csfkdv1XYbZjyAQeaEZgupvIXNCv7Dc=
 github.com/livekit/psrpc v0.8.2/go.mod h1:6KnU8vULoizX0Er9NNfeKJDV8ug87j3fuo19M0bhj6Q=
 github.com/livekit/webrtc-pion/v4 v4.2.18-warp.6 h1:UaGYlQ/Ma73LN12xPDlH3OBYNfOEDTVOtHdRZbHg2dY=
diff --git a/pkg/rtc/participant.go b/pkg/rtc/participant.go
index 0ded2aba1..c2e18e4cb 100644
--- a/pkg/rtc/participant.go
+++ b/pkg/rtc/participant.go
@@ -2644,6 +2644,9 @@ func (p *ParticipantImpl) handleReceivedDataMessage(kind livekit.DataPacket_Kind
 				Message: res.Error.GetMessage(),
 				Data:    res.Error.GetData(),
 			})
+		default:
+			// Unknown response encoding: still forwarded downstream, logged as a canary.
+			p.pubLogger.Warnw("unhandled RPC response value type", nil, "rpc_request_id", rpcResponse.GetRequestId())
 		}
 	case *livekit.DataPacket_RpcAck:
 		if payload.RpcAck == nil {